Tonight Will Be the Night
by Antha32
Summary: Nothing ever seems to be easy for Ron Weasley. Especially with Hermione Granger. When Ron tries to propose to her, well, let's just say that everything didn't go as planned. More than once. One/Shot.


_**A/N- Hi everyone! This is yet another one-shot I wrote. It's about all the times Ron tried to propose to Hermione, and well, how things didn't go the way he originally planned. I love this story and I really loved writing Ron. I hope you like it too. Please read, enjoy, and review! - Sam**_

"_Tonight will be the night that I will fall for you, over again, don't make me change my mind, or I won't live to see another day, I swear it's true, because a girl like you is impossible to find."_-Secondhand Serenade

Ron Weasley had achieved many things in his short life.

He had battled a mountain troll, played the ultimate chess game, battled a huge acromantula and its many babies, saved a innocent criminal, fought Death Eaters on many occasions before even turned 18, fought quite a few more after that, broke into the Ministry of Magic and Gringotts, and played a very important role in the biggest wizarding war in modern times. Yes, Ron Weasley had done a lot of things.

But there was one thing that Ron Weasley could never seem to get right. And that thing just happened to be his old best friend and now girlfriend, Hermione Granger.

Ron had done so many ridiculous things for that girl, good and bad. Mostly bad, though. There were so many things that he had been through with Hermione. They had started out rocky, and, of course, he had made it worse by calling her annoying. Somehow, though, they had become best friends, along with Harry, sealing their trio for many years to come. He had known deep in his heart that he really liked her when he was thirteen, but he had screwed that up too, insulting her and her stupid cat that ended up not being so stupid. He really had wanted to ask her to the Yule Ball in fourth year, but Viktor Krum, of all people, snatched her away before he even had the chance to question her. And, Ron, being the idiot and prat he can be, yelled at her for it. The two naturally made up, and by the time sixth year rolled around, he thought he could pluck up the courage to see if she felt the same way. However, when he discovered that she had snogged Krum, he got it into his head that he had to snog someone too, just to prove he could do it. And who did Ron pick as a kissing buddy? Lavender Brown, of all people, who shortly ended his friendship with Hermione for months. It took Ron getting poisoned to make her be friends with him again, not that Ron wasn't happy to have her back. He had missed having her around, and hated himself every time she ignored him. When they became close again, he swore he would never do something like that again. Jealousy, though, pure envy from that locket made him do another awful thing to her, leaving her in the forest when she had done nothing wrong. When he came back again, she was pissed at him, but he didn't blame her. He was mad at himself, sure it was the worst thing he had ever done to someone he, well, he thought he…loved. He knew that he loved her in the cellar of Malfoy Manor, knew it as she screamed, the sound of her torture being much worse than torture on himself. And, finally, he knew that she loved him back when she kissed him at the Battle of Hogwarts. He knew, at that moment, that he was going to marry her someday.

That was four years ago. And Ron still couldn't get himself to propose. He was too afraid that he would, yet again, ruin everything. But with every passing day, the need to truly know that they would be together as long as they lived became stronger. So he went to Diagon Alley and bought a ring, ready to ask.

He just needed to figure out how.

* * *

><p>"Ron, I cannot believe this," said Hermione, looking over at him.<p>

"Well…" Ron mumbled shyly, his blue eyes boring into hers.

"This is great," she said, smiling, "We haven't been out it quite a while, I'm happy you asked. And this place is just amazing…" She looked around the restaurant they were at. Lanterns and colored lights lined the dark room that looked out at the London streets. Smells of flowers and good food filled the tiny room, making feel almost overwhelmingly cozy. Even though it was not the first place someone would think of, it was the perfect place for a first date, or an anniversary, or many even a marriage proposal.

"I'm glad you like it. I saw it on the way home from work the other day. Just screamed 'Hermione' to me. And I only know a handful of Hermiones, so I thought, why not this one?" He said jokingly, grinning goofily at her. She smiled widely, and Ron couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. He loved her messy brown curls and wide chocolate eyes that glittered when she laughed. He loved her tiny stature and her smile that never failed to fix even Ron's worst day. She was gorgeous in her own Hermione way.

"So you thought you'd choose the one who just happens to be your girlfriend?" She teased him back.

"Yeah, I thought that may be a good idea," he chuckled. She rolled her eyes at him, but she was still smiling that dazzling grin of hers. He knew it was time. He reached into his pocket and grabbed the tiny ring out of his jacket pocket. He looked straight at her, serious now.

"Hermione, I was-"

"Oh, Ron," she interrupted, remembering something, "Guess what? Kingsley said that we would go meet with the centaurs next week to discuss treaties. Isn't that great?"

"Yes Hermione, but I-"

"I mean," she continued, "I've been working on this case for half a year. It's really about time, don't you think? Merlin, this could change everything with them. I've got to admit, I'm really excited. Anyway, sorry, Ron, what were you saying?"

"Um…" he sighed quietly, his courage draining from him, "Nothing, nothing…"

* * *

><p>The memorial service at Hogwarts on May 2nd, 2002 had truly gone on long enough and it was about time that all the Weasleys left their vivid, traumatic memories behind and went home to mildly celebrate Victorie's golden birthday. There was only one person who really wasn't ready to leave.<p>

"Ron, where on Earth are you taking me?" Hermione asked as her boyfriend pulled her through the many corridors of Hogwarts.

"Just a little further. Come on…"

They walked down one last, long corridor before coming to stop in front of a girls bathroom. Ron turned to Hermione and smiled. Hermione, on the other hand, looked between Ron and the bathroom like they were both mad.

"Ron, why did you take me to a girls restroom. I don't need to-"

"Hermione, that's not why I brought you here," he replied, mortified. He placed both on his hands on her shoulders before adding, "Do you not remember this bathroom?"

"It's the girl's restroom closest to Gryffindor tower," she stated matter-of-factly, slightly annoyed.

"No, I mean, do you remember what happened here?" He asked.

"Ron, I don't know what you are talking about." Ron sighed.

"Remember? The mountain troll? The place we became friends?"

"Of course I remember, Ron," she replied irritated, crossing her arms, "I still don't understand why we are here?" Ron looked at her. This was it. This was his big moment. He was going to ask this time.

"We are here, Hermione, because I-"

"There you two are!" he heard his mother call from down the corridor. She was hurrying towards them, some dry tear stains still on her face. She approached them quickly.

"I have been looking everywhere for you!" She said, out of breath, "We are all getting ready to go home. Molly and Dominique are getting a little fussy, and Torie's been very patient and she really wants to celebrate her birthday."

"Okay, then," said Hermione, giving Ron a look before following Molly, "Let's not keep the birthday girl waiting. Right, Ron?"

"Right," he mumbled, taking her held out hand. He went with her and his mother out of the school, cursing the interruption. It was the first time in his life that he was not excited for birthday cake.

* * *

><p>"So," asked Harry from across the table. He and Ron were at work on the past Death Eater cases, getting ready for some of their retrials. The two Aurors hadn't got a big case since the last month, so work was usually like this at the time.<p>

"So, what?" asked Ron, confused, looking up. Harry was staring at him instead of the work in front of him. He looked curious for a second.

"What?" asked Ron, annoyed.

"I was just wondering," his best friend replied quickly, "When you and Hermione were going to get married?"

Ron looked back down at his work. "Who says were getting married?" he mumbled to himself, disheartened.

"Oh, come on," said Harry, "I've known you two since I was eleven, I would know you two love each other. For Merlin's sake, I was there for your first kiss." He smirked. Ron hit him with his stack of papers, not looking up from the reports.

"What's up with you? Have you two had another falling out?" Harry asked, his eyes narrowing.

"No," said Ron, irritably.

"Well, then, what's wrong?"

Ron sighed. "I've been trying to ask her for weeks."

"Why haven't you, then?"

"Because every time I try too, she just interrupts me, or something happens!" He threw his hands up in the air, annoyed.

"Ron, mate," Harry said, staring at him behind his black glasses, "You just got to ask her."

"How?" Ron asked, almost yelling. "How did you do it?"

"I took Ginny for a walk and asked her. As terrifying as it is, it's not that hard."

"It is with Hermione. She's just so…difficult," Ron said, "I'm afraid I'm going to mess it all up or something. I always do."

"You don't," said Harry, placing his hand on Ron's shoulder. When Ron was going to deny this, Harry stopped him. "No saying that is not true, because it is. And don't think it's only you. You think I wasn't nervous when I asked Ginny? Because I was. I've faced the bloody Dark Lord and I almost couldn't ask my girlfriend to marry me. But I just did it, because I knew I had too, or I would regret it. You can do this, Ron; you've just got to blurt it out. You're Ron Weasley. Ron Weasley. Gryffindor, through and through. You can do this, no problem. And what's she going to say? No? Are you kidding me? I hate to break it to you, but you're not exactly the only one in love, mate." He grinned at Ron. Ron smiled back.

"Thanks," Ron said.

"No problem. That's what I'm here for, right?" Harry replied. Ron smirked, and looked back down at the papers.

"Hey, Harry?" Ron asked, breaking the silence again.

"Yeah?" Harry replied distantly, reading the report in front of him.

"Ginny said yes, right?"

"What gave it away?" Harry asked, pointing to the gold ring on his finger. "Honestly, were you at our wedding or not? I'm pretty sure you were my best man, but I may be wrong."

"Right. Thanks."

* * *

><p>Ron waited at the Apparation point outside the ministry. He searched the doors for Hermione, but she was nowhere to be found. She was late. She was never late, and of course, the night that Ron was going to take his brother-in-law's advice, she's not there. Ron swore to himself. It had been almost 45 minutes. He was starting to think he should go find her when Hermione walked out. Her hair was disheveled and she looked rushed and tired. But the thing that made Ron worried and confused was the fact that she was covered in dirt. It was all over her favorite white blouse and messed up in her curls. Even her black shoes looked like they had walked a hundred miles. She spotted him and trudged over, not smiling like she usually was when she saw him after work.<p>

"Hermione, what the hell happened?" He asked, placing his hands on both of her shoulders. She looked up at him, a mixture of anger and disappointment on her face.

"What happened?" she asked in a deadly quiet voice, her eyes flashing. "Kingsley and I go to see the centaurs at Hogwarts to talk about helping them keep up their part of the land. We thought it would be easy, because of the battle. And what happens? They have suddenly lost their trust in us and seemed to think I was some bitch who had come to take their land like Umbridge!" She was yelling now. She through her hands in the air. "Umbridge! And then they threw dirt at me as we were trying to get anyway so they wouldn't attack us! I just wanted to fix things for them, for Merlin's sake!" Her voice dropped, but her eyes glistened with tears.

"Hermione…" Ron murmured as he ran his hand through her dirt caked hair.

"I just wanted to help," she whispered, chocking up, "That's all I want to do. I just want to make things better for them. I'm not like Umbridge… I'm not…" The tears that had been building up in her eyes fell onto her cheeks and she buried her face into his shoulder. Ron could feel the hot tears as they fell on his dress shirt. He put his arms around her and pressed his face into her hair, ignoring the odd stares he was getting from the people walking past them. Ron felt tempted to go to Hogwarts and curse all of those centaurs into oblivion, but he knew that would only make Hermione angrier and sadder, so he dismissed the thoughts.

"Of course you're not like Umbridge, sweetheart," he spoke softly to her, kissing the skin above her ear. "Come on, let's go home and get you cleaned up." She nodded slightly and let him Apparate her home.

Later that night, Ron watched a now clean, but still upset Hermione sleep. She had fallen asleep right after she got out of the shower, dozing off onto Ron's shoulder. He had picked her up and carried her to bed, pressing the light covers around her body tightly. Her hair was still damp and it fell in limp curls around her face. Her skin was pale, Ron couldn't help but notice as he ran his hand over her soft cheek. Her hands were in tiny fists and Ron rubbed them in between his until they opened. She looked so exhausted, and Ron couldn't seem to remember the last time he had seen her look this tired. He kissed her forehead softly before laying down beside her. He would try to make it up to her tomorrow. Right now, they both needed sleep.

But just as he was falling into slumber, he remembered what he had planned to do today. He cursed himself, mad that yet again he hadn't gotten around to proposing. He could almost feel the ring, still in his back pocket, burning a hole in his conscience. He would do it soon, he thought as he drifted off, his eyes falling on Hermione's dark figure. He promised.

* * *

><p>Ron Weasley had experienced a horrid day.<p>

And not just a bad day. Terrible day.

It had started off fine, like any normal day. Hermione had the day off, so they said goodbye in the morning and Ron left for the ministry. He and Harry had continued their work on past Death Eaters up until about noon, when the two decided to break for lunch. That's when the news came in.

A man by the name of Galvan Camry, an eighteen year old mentally unstable boy who was convinced that Voldemort was alive and wanted him to kill people, had broken into several wizarding family homes in London. The families were all living in the same area and they were all very young with small children. He, Harry, and all the other Aurors had got themselves together and went to the incident sight.

Ron couldn't believe what he saw when he reached the area of the attack. It was swarming with ministry employees, the workers running left and right trying to start some order. The houses of the victims were completely demolished, rubble still falling from the rooftops. Bloody, dead bodies of young couples lay on the ground, their broken wands next to them. The fallen figures of little children, the oldest being at most eight, were scattered around the area, their wide, terrified, dead eyes boring into Ron's when he looked at them. The most horrible sight of all was the one of the youngest mother there, her dead body laying over the ones of her husband and baby girl, who had obviously died mourning her family's ones. Ron shuddered at the memory of them.

Galvan Camry had murdered himself, the Aurors later discovered. From what they could tell, he had poisoned him after killing ever wizard in his area. Ron didn't know what to think of the man. He was supposed to be literally insane, but Ron didn't know if that should give him a free pass in his book. Even mad people shouldn't kill innocent ones.

The most terrible thing Ron felt during the day where the memories. The memories of finding Fred dead on the ground, of his mother crying on top of her son, realizing she would outlive her own child, of Dobby, the tiny, brave house elf with his huge, never again seeing eyes staring at him, of Snape being shredded to pieces by that repulsing snake, of Neville with the burning Sorting Hat on his head, of Harry laying in Hagrid's arms, supposedly dead, of Ginny screaming, crying as his father held the poor girl back from running to the love of her life, of Hermione sobbing as he left her in the rain, screaming in pain as she was tortured by Bellatrix, laying unconscious in arms as he saw his own tears fall unto her, and of the many more horrific images from those months and of those battles.

He hated those days, and he hated this day as well.

He went home later, the moments of time still playing in his head. He realized again, as he had many times before in his life, how many things could change in a day. How you should try to do everything you've dreamed of doing, before you couldn't do them anymore. How you should remember your blessings, because you never knew when you'll get a curse. How it was so important to tell someone you loved them today, because you may not be there to tell them tomorrow.

Ron opened the door to his and Hermione's apartment quickly, scanning the room for his girlfriend. He finally found her lying on their bed, her nose in a book. She looked up when he entered and grinned.

"Hi, Ron," she said, her eyes twinkling. The sight of her brown orbs gave him a rush of adrenaline and he kneeled down so he was eye-level with her on the bed. He reached into his back pocket and took out the small diamond ring. It glittered in the dim lights of the bedroom. Hermione pressed her hands to her mouth.

"Oh my goodness," she whispered, her eyes wide as she stared at the pretty engagement band.

"Before you say anything," he said quietly, looked straight at her, "Listen to me for a second." He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed, trying to build up his confidence. He looked back at her startled face.

"I have had this ring in my back pocket for over a month now. I'm been trying and trying to ask you, but something always happens or I back out, because I wanted this to be perfect for you and I didn't want to mess it up like I do with everything else. But today…Merlin, Hermione, today I had to go collect the dead bodies of babies and their young parents. And I knew it was time, because I can't stand the thought of something happening to you before I could ask you. Life seems so short, and I love you so much. So much, Hermione." He paused and took a deep breath. "So, Hermione Granger, I'm asking you to please marry me."

Hermione stared at him, shocked. Her eyes moved back and forth between him and the ring, almost stunned and confused. Ron couldn't believe it. She must not want to now. Did she not like his proposal? What did he do wrong? He always does something wrong.

"Damn it," Ron growled, standing up, "Damn it, I can't believe I did that! I'm so stupid-"

"Ron!" Hermione yelled. He turned back to her. She had large tears falling out of her eyes, but she had that heart stopping smile of hers on her face. She was looking at him like he was the greatest thing in the world. She nodded.

"Yes, Ron," she said, her voice breaking, "Of course I'll marry you."Ron sighed in relief, and smiled a matching grin her way. He ran over to her and picked her up, spinning her around. She laughed loudly and grabbed the ring from his hand, putting it quickly on her left hand. She jumped back into his arms and hugged him tightly to her.

"Ron," she said, giggling as happy tears continued to fall down her face, "We're getting married." She sounded astonished.

"We're getting married," he repeated, finding it hard to remember why it had been so hard to ask her in the first place. They were meant for one another. Why didn't he realize that she would definitely say yes before?

"I thought you'd never ask," she whispered, running her small hand along his red hair, "God, Ron, I love you so much." Ron smiled again, and kissed her fiercely, never feeling better. He hadn't messed it up. He had done it just right. And this felt so right, too, just being with her, knowing that it would be like this for the rest of their lives together.

"I love you too," he murmured against her lips. "And I always will."


End file.
